Beast Wars: Rejoice
by sisterawesomeness
Summary: The holidays can be stressful for any of us under normal circumstances. Let alone if you're involved in an alien war. Eri knows this best of all. How will she celebrate the holidays with her new friends? And what will the Maximals and Predacons do when she turns their world upside down with her festivities?
1. Uh Oh

"_Love the giver more than the gift." –Brigham Young_

* * *

"So you seriously ask strangers for candy and they give it to you?" the cat asked her.

"Only if they're porch light is on and you say, 'Trick-or-treat'," she explained. Eri had been learning from them for a while how to understand Cybertronian. She was no expert but did manage to figure out the numbers for the date on the computer. One of her favorite holidays was upon them. Halloween!

She'd been in an extremely good mood all day and Cheetor was the first to notice and ask. So, she patiently explained the history of the holiday and how she celebrated it. He was still a little confused at the end but liked the fact humans got one free night to play tricks on each other. Or get free candy.

"It's pretty fun," she went on. "Most people stop the entire trick-or-treating thing once they get older but I've seen plenty of teenagers and even adults do it. And people often throw parties where there are costume contests and they play games. I've been to a couple and they weren't bad but I like to hang out at home and watch scary movies. There's always good marathons on." She had to describe what kind of movies she watched and what games she'd seen people play at the parties. Eri didn't mind going into detail and Cheetor was eager to listen.

"Ultra gear!" he said once she was done. "We don't have anything like that back on Cybertron. Sure bots might hang out and have some energon treats but it wasn't as big a deal as you described."

"Yeah, but you guys have the option of transforming into something different than your robot modes. We humans are stuck being what we are all the time. This is the one time a year we get to dress up as something else and pretend to be somebody else."

"Good point. So, what are you going to be this year?"

For a second she was stumped. "Um, Cheetor I'm not dressing up this time."

"Why not?"

"Well, first you guys don't even celebrate Halloween or know what it is. So, what's the point in dressing up if I'm not going anywhere and the others wouldn't get it? Plus, I don't have the materials to make a good costume."

He pondered what she said and realized she had a point. But he also picked up that she seemed a little sad about it. Everyone aboard knew Eri wouldn't admit it but this whole ordeal and being dragged into the beast wars couldn't have been easy for her. She was stuck on a ship with alien life forms from another time period. Not to mention they were stuck on an alien planet full of dangerous elements and Predacons waiting to strike. She had to be feeling a little homesick.

And she had just pointed out that they didn't even know about her holidays and what they meant to her. If he hadn't had picked up on it he might not even have known this Halloween existed. She wasn't one to complain so she probably just would've let it slip by without even mentioning it. But he could tell even though she tried to hide it that she was disappointed. A thought popped into his CPU. Why not celebrate the holiday? It might make her feel more at home and cheer her up. Seeing as they were partially responsible for getting her into this mess it was the least they could do. Or the least _he_ could do.

"Eri," he stated smiling. "I know you're clever enough to come up with something."

"What are you thinking about?" she knew by the cat's expression he was up to something. And it couldn't be good.

"I want you to put a costume together and meet me back here in sixty cycles," he told her. "I've got a surprise for you."

"Uh, o-ok," she was surprised but went off to her room already thinking of what she could possibly use. _What the heck is he up to? I hope whatever it is it's harmless. But right now I have to think of a costume._ Eri made it back to her room and looked around at her few belongings. Clothing wise she was limited to three outfits or whatever combination she could make out of them. And she had no idea what she could be. Whatever it was would have to be something that didn't rely on too much makeup. She normally didn't worry about that and had little more than blush in her pack.

"Hm, this is gonna be tricky," she said aloud. Then a thought popped into her head. "That just might work!"

A short time later.

Eri stood in the hall where the cat said to meet up with him. "Wow," she heard behind her. "Good job Eri. You look real scary." She turned around to see the cat and he held a couple of cans.

Eri wore the outfit she'd gotten at the pyramid. To add more effect she found some grease and harmless chalky stuff the Maximals often used to mark off certain things on the ship they needed to fix. The end result meant she appeared to have black circles under her eyes and whitish skin. Some of the chalk like material was in her hair so she had white strips running through it. She actually left it down instead of tying it up. With what limited material she had Eri was pretty proud about how decent of a ghost she looked.

"Thanks, so what are those for?" she inquired indicating the cans.

"Oh these? Just a little something we're taking with us."

"Wait, where are we going?"

"Well, you said if people don't give you treats then you play a prank on them. The name of this is trick-or-treat right?"

"Well, yeah but…" Her eyes grew wide and gave an added effect to her attire as she had a realization of what he meant. "You don't mean."

"Sure do," he handed her the cans and transformed into beast mode. "We're going to pay the Predacons a little Halloween visit."

* * *

_So this little plot bunny popped into my head now that the holidays are upon us. I thought, what would happen if Eri was there when they went on? How would she celebrate them with the Maximals? Moreover I thought it would be fun to write and went with it. Hope you enjoy!_


	2. We're in Trouble

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked as she road on his back.

"It's no problem," he reassured her. "We'll be in and out before they even detect us."

"Still… What about everyone back at base? You didn't tell anyone what we were doing. They're gonna wonder where we ran off to."

"We can always say we went for a small walk. It's too late to turn back now," he indicated they were in Predacon territory. He kept his voice down and they made sure to be observant. One could never tell what the Preds were up to. And Eri didn't like being this close to them to begin with.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," she breathed. "You're worse than my cousin."

"It'll be fine. Trust me. Besides," he indicated up ahead. "We're here."

"I sure didn't miss this place."

"Come on. Let's give 'em a taste of the Halloween spirit." They quietly made their way to the back of the ship. Eri thought it was a small miracle none of the alarms sounded and they didn't run into anyone. Though they did have to duck once when Waspinator flew by. But he was too busy mumbling to himself to even remotely notice them. The cat looked up at her once the wasp was out of sight and smirked. She couldn't help but smile back. "This looks like a good spot," the cat indicated one partial wing of the ship.

"Let's just do this and get out of here," she said hopping off of him. He transformed and took one of the cans from her. "What are these anyway?"

"They're kind of like instant glue in a can. We use it for quick patch jobs or if the welders aren't working." He sprayed a little on the side of the ship. It came off as a light silver almost white color. It was definitely noticeable on the dark charred metal of the Predacon base. "It's a real pain to get off once it's sprayed," he grinned.

"Well that's just Prime," Eri lightly giggled and they set to work. She really wasn't sure what to spray on the ship so she put Halloween related things on it. It included: little ghosts, a couple pumpkins with scary faces, a witch on a broom, and a black (or in this case) grey cat. Cheetor wrote a little in Cybertronian and Eri could only guess the meaning. Though she did catch a few things that made her snicker. In the end they used what they had left to paint a giant 'Trick-or-treat'.

"See, what I tell ya?" he questioned. "Piece of cake."

"I'm glad we came," she finally admitted. "This was fun. I've never really done the 'trick' part before. Except for the time me and Haruko put that fake spider in Kimiko's locker. But I think it's time we get moving. The others will miss us and I don't wanna be here any longer than necessary."

"Yeah let's," but he was interrupted by a noise behind them.

"Maximal intruders!" the scorpion saw them and called out.

"OH SHIZNIT!" Eri screamed.

"Ultra bad!" Cheetor added and shot the arachnid right as he fired a torpedo at them. They dodged but the cat's shot hit him square and took him down.

"Let's get out of here!" the cat transformed and she practically flew onto his back. Sure enough the fire alerted all the others to their presence. The ship's guns locked onto them and the Predacons came running.

"Go go go go!" she yelled at him and he booked it for all he was worth. The following second the Preds opened fire and the cat was forced to dodge as he ran. "How in the pit did I let you talk me into this!" she shouted holding onto him for dear life. "This is ten times worse than any trouble Haruko ever got me into!"

"Just hold on!"

* * *

The Maximal Base.

"Hea," Rattrap said walking into the control room. The others were already there. "Any of you seen Eri? We have a cyber-poker rematch today and I can't find the little lady anywhere."

"Maybe she wised up and has grown to avoid your presence like the rest of us," Dinobot stated.

"Ha ha, real funny there Chopperface," the rat countered. "I've searched this place up and down. I just don't get where she could be."

"I haven't seen Cheetor in a while either," Optimus said.

"They could just be in one of the storage rooms," Rhinox offered.

"Somehow I doubt that," Primal had a bad feeling.

"I agree with Boss-bot," Rattrap added. "It's no coincidence Stargirl and the fur-ball are both missin.' I just hope whatever he's gotten them into isn't too serious." As if the universe heard them they got a call.

"Optimus! Come in Optimus!" Cheetor's voice came over the comm.

Rhinox hit a few buttons on the control panel and Primal answered. "Cheetor where are you? And is Eri with you?" He doubted they would be calling if they were in the ship.

"Where in the pit did you take Stargirl anyway?" Rattrap spoke up.

"Sorry guys but we don't have time for questions!" Eri's voice could be heard. They also heard a loud explosion near them and Eri let out a small scream.

"What's going on?" the Prime more demanded than asked.

"We're coming in hot," Cheetor returned.

"As in every Preds out here riding our afts!" Eri shouted. They knew it was bad if she cursed, normally she only did that if she was angry or scared. And this time she sounded petrified.

Rhinox had their perimeter scans up and running in two seconds. It showed Cheetor coming in alright, they assumed Eri was on him seeing as she didn't register on their scans. Not far behind was every Predacon and they were gaining fast. "Lock and load Maximals!" Primal ordered.

* * *

_I know these chapters are extremely short. Sorry about that. The next one will be longer though. Let me know what you think!_


	3. An Explanation or Two

A short time later.

"I will not forgive this impertinence Primal, noooo," Megatron threatened as the Predacons were forced to retreat. "The next time I see the pussycat or the human I'll rip them apart limb by limb!" He pointed to the cat and Eri as she stood behind him. The next second he ran like the rest of his followers as everyone opened fire on him.

Once their enemies were out of sight the cheetah let out a sigh. "That was a close one." Eri nodded in agreement.

"Which leads to the question of what you two were doing," Optimus eyed the both of them. "The Predacons wouldn't be this riled up for no reason."

"And what are you wearin'?" Rattrap asked indicating Eri's costume. The human and cat shared a look.

"Ok," Eri said. "I'll tell you once we're inside." Once they were safely inside their base Eri set to telling the others what she had relayed to the cat earlier. How it was Halloween, that it was a holiday, people wear costumes, get candy, or play tricks, etc. She also explained how Cheetor had been trying to help her celebrate the day by playing a trick on the Predacons.

"Yeah," the cat smirked. "It'll take 'em cycles to get the sealant off."

"Explains why they were so upset," Optimus commented.

"Why didn't you just tell us it was a holiday?" Rhinox asked.

"I'll give ya one guess," Rattrap answered smacking the cat upside his shoulder.

"I just wanted to make it memorable for Eri," the cheetah defended.

"Sure spots."

"It was still reckless of you to take her into Predacon territory by yourself," the Prime scolded. "Especially without radioing in."

The cat hung his head. "Sorry Big-bot."

"It's not all Cheetor's fault," Eri said. "I didn't stop him and… It would probably have been better if I just ignored this holiday."

"No Eri," Rhinox reassured her. "If it's important to you then it's important to us."

"They're your traditions little lady," the rat spoke up. "And if it involves harassen' the Preds I'm all for it."

"What Rattrap is trying to say is that we would be happy to celebrate this Halloween with you," Primal shot the rat a look indicating he didn't appreciate him encouraging what they had done.

"Really?"

"Yeah," the rat said. "How about you help us deck this place out?"

"Ok!" she ran off to go get a few things out of her pack.

Meanwhile the others remained in the control room. Of course Dinobot had to voice his opinion. "You cannot be serious," he growled. "This infernal holiday sounds idiotic. Humans gorging themselves on things that will ruin their teeth and dressing even more strangely than normal. You cannot tell me this sounds appealing."

"It doesn't matter what we think of it," the rhino stated. "All that matters is if Eri enjoys herself."

"It won't offline you to try something new," Primal added. "Who knows, you might even like it yourself."

"I highly doubt that."

"Even if ya don't Chopperface," Rattrap pointed at him. "Keep your opinions to yourself. The little lady's been through a lot and making her happy is the least we could do. So just shut your trap for a few cycles." They all kept quiet as Eri ran back in carrying a few things with a huge beaming smile on her face.

The next couple of hours were devoted to helping put up pictures Eri had made out of pages in her notebooks. Luckily she had art in school so she had some colored pencils to give the images the correct colors. Pretty soon the place was littered with witches, goblins, ghosts, black cats, and fake pumpkins. Instead of costumes the Maximals and ex-Pred went into beast mode. Once that was done Eri explained how she used to watch horror movies all night. It was the only time of the year she enjoyed being scared. However, they didn't have anything like that to watch. So, she improvised by telling them some of the movies she usually viewed.

They set the atmosphere by dimming all the lights except for one trained on Eri as they all sat around the control panel. "Then Michael stepped outside as his parents came up the driveway…"

"What exactly is the point of this story?" Dinobot asked.

"Well, we don't have any horror movies. But I bet you guys will like the ones I know. I'm not the best story teller but I do remember most of the lines."

"But what is the point?" the raptor repeated. All of the others gave him dirty looks like 'Shut the hell up.' Eri didn't seem fazed as she continued.

"To scare you. Most people like being scared on Halloween. That's why they watch the movies and go to the haunted houses and stuff. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, so Michael's parents returned home to find their son outside holding a bloody pair of scissors…"

* * *

About an hour later.

"Doctor Loomis ran to the side of the balcony and peered over… But Michael was gone," she tried to put on a creepy smile and banged her foot hard against the underside of the table. The end result was a loud 'clang'. If he had skin Eri would've sworn the cat jumped out of his. She let out a small giggle as the others looked at the cat. "Sorry Cheetor," she apologized trying to hide her smile. "I couldn't resist."

"Good one little lady," Rattrap grinned. "I think the kid used up one of his lives."

"It's not funny," Cheetor said looking embarrassed. He quickly tried to change the subject. "So, what's another scary story you like?"

She had to think a second. "Well, there is the one where Michael comes back…" She was cut off as a bang resounded throughout the ship. They all looked at her.

"Ha ha," the cat said. "Nice try Eri but I won't fall for the same trick twice."

"T-that wasn't m-me," she stuttered standing up. Another bang, only this time louder, could clearly be heard but none of them could tell where it was coming from. Eri scooted closer to them.

"What was that?" the rat asked. Suddenly, the lights went out. They were developed in pure darkness and someone screamed. It resonated through the void and everyone's spark, or in Eri's case veins, ran cold.

* * *

_I just had to end it on a cliffhanger. I'm so evil. I can't wait for Halloween to be here already. It is my favorite holiday! Until next time awesome readers. _


	4. Terror

The lights came on and they were all near each other. They glanced at Eri thinking she'd been the one who'd screamed. She was latched onto the rat for dear life. "I-it wasn't me," she admitted and tried not to look at Rattrap. Inadvertently saying it had been him. He shook his helm and scratched the back of it.

"Eh, what can I say?" Luckily, he didn't have to say anything as the lights flickered again and they all peered around. "What's goin' on?"

"I don't know," Rhinox checked the systems. "All systems appear normal."

"Well something isn't right," the Prime said. "Rhinox, you stay here with Eri and report if anything else happens. Everyone else spread out and scan the ship." Eri had a bad feeling about this. It was never a good idea to split up.

* * *

With Cheetor.

The cat whipped out his weapon as he traveled down the darkened halls. He rounded a corner and stalked near one of the storage rooms. So far he hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. Until he came across the training room. The door was cracked open. And he could've sworn it was closed when he checked it out earlier that day.

* * *

With Rattrap.

"Man this makes my circuits vibrate," he said as he went toward the main engine room. He walked as quietly as possible and kept an ear out for anything. He stopped when he thought he heard something down the hall. But when he did there wasn't anything. "Must be my imagination," he whispered and continued on his way. But then he heard it again. He stopped and waited longer this time before he moved forward. It sounded like it was right around the corner…

He steeled himself for whatever was on the other side and rounded. His finger was on the trigger but there wasn't anything. For a second he stood there and couldn't believe it. "I coulda sworn," he shut up as he heard the sound behind him. "Optimus?" he asked. No answer. "Cheetor?" whatever it was sounded like it was getting closer. "Rhinox?"

* * *

With Optimus.

There hadn't been any sign of what was causing the problems. The prime had patrolled some of the lesser used hallways and was now in the area where the personal quarters were located. All of the doors so far had been locked, like they should be.

"Huh?" the door to Eri's room was propped open. Even in her earlier excitement Optimus doubted she'd leave her door wide open… With a crate blocking it from closing. He readied his sword and walked forward. As carefully as possible he moved the crate and entered the room. His scanners told him nothing was in there or out of place. He was suspicious and turned to exit… When the door slammed and locked him in.

* * *

With Dinobot.

The warrior stalked down the halls. His sword at the ready and he silently growled to himself. His sensors told him nothing was wrong but he knew better. He wasn't one for relying on feelings but he did listen to his instincts. They had not let him down yet. And right now they were screaming at him that something else was down there with him. He just had to find it.

* * *

In the control room.

Eri stood worried as Rhinox continued to type away in some hope of finding the problem. "They've all been gone a g-good while," Eri said. "Ma-maybe we should call them."

He looked up from his work and saw how freaked out she was. It's not like she didn't have a good reason. "Ok," he tried to reassure her. "Optimus," he called first. But there was no answer. "Optimus," he repeated. "Report." They only heard static on the other end of the line. Now the rhino was worried too. "Rattrap," he tried instead. "Come in." Nothing. "Cheetor?" Eri typed in herself. Still silence. "Dinobot?" Rhinox attempted one last time. There was no answer from any of them.

They both looked at each other. But their attention was drawn away by a sound in the nearby hall. Something came banging in and rolled to where they were. It was Dinobot's sword… "R-Rhinox," Eri walked over and grabbed the weapon. Though it was so heavy she had to use both hands to hold it and even then it was a challenge. They knew the raptor wouldn't go anywhere without it.

"Eri," the rhino pulled out one of his guns and headed for the light banging sound in the hallway. "Stay here."

"B-but we shouldn't split up!" she tried.

"I need you to stay here and keep an eye on the control panel," he explained. "If any of the other's comm in let me know. I'm going to find out what the blazes is going on." And with that he headed out into the darkness. Eri felt small and alone under one of the flickering lights. The sword she held did little to settle her uneasiness. If it wasn't with Dinobot it wasn't a good thing. _Just stay calm. I'll give it back to him when all of this is over._

The lights turned back off for a second and she nearly panicked before they came back on. Then she heard a noise. It was metal scrapping against metal. "Rh-Rhi-Rhinox?" she barely managed to get out. She didn't get an answer and a shiver went up her spin. "G…guys?" she tried. "If th-that's y…you an-answer me. Pl-pl-please." The lights actually seemed to grow dimmer as the noise came closer.

She gripped the sword tighter and ran over to the control panel. She typed in everyone's comm numbers at once. "GUYS!" she cried into it. "Are any of you there? I-I-I…" she stopped and listened as the noise stopped right before whatever it was could come into the light. "B-boys…" She felt shaky and her voice cracked horribly. "H-help," she tried. All that answered her was blurry static.

Suddenly a noise startled her from behind. She turned in a full circle but didn't see anything past a few feet. She practically huddled right next to the control panel under the light. Dinobot's sword suddenly felt a lot lighter. It was then the lights went out completely.

Eri breathed heavily in the darkness and couldn't see anything. But she did hear something. Whatever it was sounded heavy and landed right behind her. On top of the control panel. There was a harsh laugh and something grabbed her.

"AWWWWWW!" she screamed in pure terror and swung the sword without thinking. She must've connected because there was a screech of metal and whatever held her yelled out in pain before she was dropped. Eri hit the floor hard, having the heavy sword didn't help at all. But as soon as she did she bolted up and ran. For all she knew she could run head first into a wall but she didn't care. All her body and mind told her was get the hell out of there and away from whatever that threat was.

She got lucky in that she didn't simply plow into a wall. Once she guessed she was in the hallway she put one of her hands out and found a wall. Eri kept following it and must've turned down various hallways about twenty times. If the lights had been on and it had been a normal day she would've been able to tell where she was going. But now the ship might as well have been a labyrinth. She had no clue where she was going or how long she'd been running.

Eventually reason seeped into her terror filled mind and she slowed her pace. Once she stopped and caught her breath she noticed no one was following her. And her nerves weren't screaming something was wrong. Though that didn't stop her from walking on once she found some flickering lights. _At least it's not dark here. But what the heck was that back there?! I feel bad for Dinobot but I'm kinda glad I have this thing. _The sword had saved her.

At least she had one thing is this whole terrifying equation. Now that she wasn't in immediate danger Eri assessed the situation. _Ok, I'm all alone. I have no clue where any of the guys are or if they're alright. I hope they are._ _I have no idea what is going on or what attacked me back there. The ship is spazing out and I don't know how to fix it. Well, I have a sword. _"Man, I am so screwed," she sighed and noticed something on the floor.

"Rattrap's gun!" she said running over and grabbing it. It was hard to hold with the sword but she managed to holster it in her pants. "Rattrap," she whispered but saw no sign of the rat._ Where the hell could he be? _She thought she heard something above her. Like a light metal tap. Eri looked up to find Rattrap stuck to the ceiling in a giant blue spiderweb. He didn't look awake but did twitch which caused the light knocking sound. It was horrible to see her friend like that, she couldn't even reach up to help him down. But now she knew what she was up against. "Tarantulas!" she said.

If he was responsible for all of this then she could only assume he was running around the base somewhere and the guys were all like the rat. This also meant she needed to get to the control room as soon as possible and stop him before he could destroy the base or let Megatron in. But… If she was going to face him alone she was going to need a few things first.

* * *

_Oh, I upped the ante. How will Eri face the spider alone? Read and find out!_


	5. Trick-r-Treat

Eri was able to get her bearings and make her way to her room. Though she was horrified to find Optimus stuck to the ceiling. Even on her bed she was too short to reach up and cut him down. Once she was there she grabbed her flashlight, yo-yo, and a little surprise for the spider. She made her way quietly to the control room and this time kept to the shadows._ I wonder who's the hunter and who's the one actually being hunted here._

When she eventually got there she kept to the darkness and barely peeked around the corner enough to see where he was. She was a little happy to see he hadn't really done anything yet… And that was due to the fact he was missing his left arm. _I cut the whole thing off! _

He grumbled something about Megatron sending him there and how he was going to get her back for lopping off his arm when he was done with his mission. He typed on the control panel. For now it seemed Sentinel's security system had him locked out but seeing as the spider was like an evil genius she didn't trust the system to keep him out forever. She'd have to act fast.

Eri went to the nearest access panel and managed to get in. She was in no way an expert on this alien tech but Rhinox had taught her a couple key things in case of an emergency. And this counted. She got it open and taped into Sentinel's system using the code they'd made for her. Sure enough she could see the spider trying to get in. "I don't think so," she whispered. "Sentinel, activate emergency code great wall. Code name Starchild."

"Acknowledged," his voice lowly replied and a little green light came on indicating it had worked. She got up and moved to the opposite side of the control room. But not before leaving something behind.

The lights reset themselves and turned on full blast for a moment. Before flickering even worse than they had before. "What?!" the spider said in outrage. He taped a few keys and noticed another signature was hacked into the system. He could only guess it was the infernal human. And to his glee he could triangulate where she was signed in aboard the ship.

"Poor thing," he chuckled. "Did the Minimals honestly teach you so little? Oh well, I have some time before I must report in to Megatron. I may as well have a little amusement." He headed off down the hall she'd left behind.

Eri smiled and ran into the control room. "Sentinel," she kept her voice down. "Security code Stargazer, close off the control panel until another valid security code is listed. Initiate lockdown." The system did as she told it and she sighed a bit in relief. Now she had two lines of defense, the panel locked down meant he wouldn't be able to open it without her or one of the Maximal's security codes. And even if he did the great wall defense she put up would go into effect and keep him out. She needed to cover all her bases in case her plan didn't work and she failed. Even in the worst case scenario he might be able to leave but no one could get in and he wouldn't be able to hack the system.

* * *

In the hall.

The spider was elated to see a small light shining in the flickering darkness of the ship. He snuck up in his beast mode so that he could attack her from the ceiling. He leapt when he thought the time was right and pinned her to the floor. "Ha! I'll make you wish you were never spawned!" he cackled. Until he realized something was wrong. He moved her around to find it really wasn't the human. But her pack with a piece of clothing wrapped around it. He hissed in frustration and knocked the pack aside. And that's when he saw something.

The pack had been tied to some sort of spray can device and rigged when it moved that the contents would spray out. And they did. Right into his optics. "AWWW!" he yelled in surprise and rubbed at them. Only to find most of his eyes were now glued shut thanks to quick setting sealant.

* * *

The control room.

Eri heard the spider's cry from there and knew she only had a few moments. So she got into position in the CR chamber and patiently waited for him to come back. She had to listen well or she wouldn't be able to tell when he came back in. She would've propped it open but that would've been a dead giveaway.

Then, she heard him shuffle back. "Stupid infernal human!" he grumbled and transformed back from beast mode. The sealant cracked and about half of it came off so he could see a little. "When I get my servos on her…" he stopped when he noticed the control panel was locked down and he couldn't get to the keys. She heard him let out a mixture of a hiss and a growl. "Where are you?!" he yelled. "Come out come out wherever you are…"

Eri kicked the side of the chamber and it opened. "Right here!" she said and fired at him with the rat's weapon. It hit him square but she was forced to dodge as he shot at her in return. She took refuge under the control panel and popped up enough to keep at him. Even half blind the spider reacted lightening quick and past the initial hit dodged her.

"You'll pay for what you've put me through fleshling!" he used his eight legs to fire on her.

"Go slag yourself!" she countered and shot at him under the table. She got one of his legs until he transformed and hoped on top of the table. Eri was sort of stuck at this point because she had no clue where she could pop up and he wouldn't get her. And she couldn't just blast through the freaking panel.

She decided to wing it over him coming after her. Eri sprung up around one of the corners and fired. Lucky for her his butt was to her but he turned around fast enough to dodge. He shot web out but she dodged and fired again. That's when the gun ran out of ammo. She looked at it horrified when it only clicked when she pulled the trigger. The spider smiled at her and let out a menacing laugh.

Thinking fast she pulled out Dinobot's sword but the spider shot web out and knocked it from her hands. "Oh shit!" she yelled and whipped out her last line of defense. Her yo-yo. She stepped back from him and swung it at the ready.

"I'm going to enjoy this," he chuckled.

"Bring it," she sneered.

He went flying at her but she acted fast and swung the toy. It smacked off his helm and this time she bolted over the control panel and he barely missed her by inches. "You can't run forever!" he threatened.

"How's it feel to be getting your aft kicked by a girl?" she countered.

The spider transformed at this point and pulled out his own weapon. Even Eri knew her odds weren't that great. She had to practically fling herself out of the way as he opened fire and was relentless. She was just fortunate the control panel could take a hit. All she had to do was keep him distracted enough.

Eri managed to keep moving and keep him busy. Sure enough her strategy worked and she got close enough to be in range. She used her yo-yo to wrap it around the gun, then she pulled it out of his claw. Unfortunately, he moved too fast for her to claim it as he moved in and grabbed her around the throat with his now free pincher.

"You've caused me much trouble human," he said right in her face. Eri fought to breath and fight back but even with one arm he suspended her in midair. "I suppose it won't all be for not. Once I hack your pathetic defense systems Megatron will finally have this ship. I'll simply request keeping you as a reward for my success."

"Y-you glo…gloat too mu-much," she managed to gasp out.

"That is the last time you will insult me," he cut off her air even more and she gasped.

* * *

They were interrupted by a metal screeching sound and looked over to see a familiar sight. "Di-Dinobot!" Eri barely got out.

"Don't move traitor!" the spider threatened positioning her in front of him. "Or I'll finish off your little pet."

Eri glanced at the warrior as he held his sword. He looked at her and slowly his weapon stopped spinning. "That's right," the spider gloated. Eri wasn't having any of it. With what strength she had left she swung the yo-yo one last time and smashed it, along with the spider's gun, right where Tarantulas's special place was. He grunted in pain and nearly fell down but did release her. She got out of the way and as soon as she did the raptor growled and used his eye lasers to blast the arachnid.

The spider cried out in pain and hit the floor hard. Dinobot walked over and picked the spider up off the floor. "You should have made sure you offlined me," the raptor snarled. "The next time you threaten a helpless human remember this." He walked over to the elevator and opened in. But he stopped and turned to Eri one last time. "Anything you wish to say to our visitor?"

She took a second before nodding. Eri walked over and looked the spider right in the face. "Trick-r-Treat you aft," and she punched him as hard as she could in the face. He yelped in pain and the part of his visor not covered in sealant cracked. Then Dinobot threw him out of the elevator shaft. They both saw and heard him hit the ground hard.

"Sentinel," Eri said. "Voice code, Starchild."

"Autoguns online," Dinobot finished. The next second they heard the guns outside start firing and watched on the cameras as the spider fled for his life. From the looks of it the rest of the Predacons were nearby and weren't happy. Eri knew the spider would have some explaining to do.

She looked to the ex-Predacon. "Thanks for saving me back there," she smiled at him. He didn't say anything but by the look on his face Eri knew he acknowledged her gratitude. The most he did was let out a small grunt but she was willing to take it. "Quick!" she said almost out of nowhere. "We have to go get the others!"

* * *

_One more chapter to go for this holiday! Hope you guys enjoyed this. Let me know._


	6. Happy Halloween!

It took about half an hour to get everyone down and back to their normal selves. It turned out the spider made his way into the ship using a special cloaking device. Then he attacked the Maximals one at a time before he planned to turn the base over to Megatron. And Eri knew what he planned to do with her. Unfortunately for him things were complicated when he faced off against the raptor.

The ex-Predacon's instincts were what saved him in the end. Instead of being webbed Tarantulas tried to personally blast his ex-comrade. He'd gotten Dinobot good, but hadn't finished him. The raptor decided to see what the spider was up to and played dead. Even relinquishing his sword so the spider could play his game with Rhinox and Eri. Dinobot did have to steady himself and managed to get up to the control room in time to rescue Eri. Once he was done in the CR chamber he was as good as new.

Eri was glad everyone was alright and that they took care of the spider. Turned out he wouldn't be getting back in anytime soon. Rattrap managed to blast and destroy the spider's new toy so there wouldn't be any repeat event. But she also felt responsible.

If she hadn't pissed off the Predacons they might not have sent the spider to break in. Or even if they did then he only got as far as he did because she distracted the Maximals with her festivities. In effect it was mostly her fault. She apologized to them and bowed feeling horrible. "I'm sorry I even brought this up. Don't worry, you guys won't have to celebrate another holiday." Before they could say anything she turned and headed for the hallway. "I'm just gonna go to bed. I'll take the decorations down in the morning." She skulked down the hall.

* * *

"Poor Eri," the cat said.

"Yeah," the rat agreed. "Stargirl only wanted to have some fun and looked how it turned out."

"She'll never celebrate any human traditions now," Rhinox sighed. "That's not good."

"Good riddance," Dinobot said. All of the Maximals looked at him and glared. "What?" he spoke. "This so called holiday of hers made no sense. And it has done nothing but cause us grief."

"Dinobot," Optimus scolded. "Remember when you first joined us? We all had to adapt to each other's customs. The same thing applies for Eri. She's stranded on an alien planet in the middle of a war she didn't deserve to be a part of. We may not have understood this Halloween but Eri was enjoying herself before Tarantulas appeared. Her happiness was enough for us. I thought you'd understand that."

For a moment Dinobot digested what the Prime said. He was right in the fact Eri had been trust into this battle. All things considered, including the fact she was a young human, she handled it fairly well. Had even defended them on separate occasions, including himself. She had been so happy when he had come to rescue her. And she'd been even happier when she was telling them about Halloween and retelling that horrendous story that made no sense…

He had to admit her smiling was better than her being perpetually scared or mopping. It hadn't killed him to listen to her. She was easier to listen to than most of the others around there. Dinobot let out a low growl. "I… Suppose her traditions are harmless." The others looked at him as if prompting him to continue. "And it is better than her skulking around here."

"Nice to see ya finally came around there, Dinobutt," Rattrap stated. "But the little lady isn't exactly in the mood to celebrate."

"We could change that," the cat had a thought.

"Whaddya think' there kid?"

"I have an idea."

* * *

In Eri's room.

Eri sat on her bed still in her outfit. She'd muster up the stamina to clean herself up and change shortly. "Well… That could've gone better." She'd failed in making a nice Halloween for her friends. And it was their first! Even in her room aboard the ship it semi reminded her of back in New York. She'd spent most of her Halloween's alone in her room. _Guess this one is no exception._ She put a sleeve to her face but none of the fake makeup came off. _Looks like I'll have to shower. Great, exactly what I feel like doing this late at night. But I'd rather not go to sleep with this crap on._ "Happy Halloween Eri," she said quietly to herself.

Before she could get up she heard a knock at her door. "Hea Eri!" she heard Cheetor call. "Come out here. I gotta show ya something."

"Coming," she answered and got up. When she opened her door she was a little surprised to see him in beast mode. "What's going on?"

"Come with me," he urged. "I want you to see this. Oh and bring your bag."

"See what?" she asked following the cat down the hall after grabbing her pack. To her surprise they stopped in front of Rattrap's room door. She glanced at him but he didn't answer. Instead he knocked on the rat's door.

Two seconds later they heard the rat say, "I'm coming," before he answered. He was in beast mode as well, but he also held something in his paws.

"Alright guys, what's going on?"

"Come on Eri," Cheetor nudged her side. "What is it you say for this holiday?"

"Trick-r-Treat," she answered still confused.

"That's the magic words!" the rat announced and handed her what he had. Eri looked down to see he had handed her the food that reminded her of apples. But this had been in storage in case they were ever stuck in the ship and couldn't get out for a while. That way she wouldn't starve.

"Um thanks?" she said out of habit.

"You're welcome, Stargirl," he smiled at her.

"I don't get it," she said. "Why are we doing this?"

"For you Eri," the cat said. "You didn't really get to enjoy Halloween so we're making up for it."

"We're doin' this Trick-r-Treat thing with ya," the rat added. Eri was at a loss for words and they used that to their advantage. Rattrap took over and steered her down the hall while the cat ran off.

Soon enough they came to Rhinox's room. She looked to the rat and he knocked. The rhino answered and they looked at her. She gave in and said, "Trick-r-Treat."

"Here you are," he handed her another piece of food and she put it in her bag like the last. "That's a nice costume you have on." She could understand why he wasn't in beast mode. He was a little big for the ship.

"You guys don't have to do this," she told them.

"We know," Rhinox and the rat kept her going.

"But we want to," the rat stated. "This is your first Halloween with us and we wanted it to be special." She was at a loss for words when they got to the cat's room. She didn't need to be prompted to do the procedure this time. Cheetor stayed in robot mode long enough to hand her the food before he transformed again and joined them as they continued down the hall. Eri was reluctant once they got to Dinobot's door but the others pushed her gently along. She hesitantly knocked and of course the raptor answered.

"You already gave me something for Halloween Dinobot," she smiled at him before anyone could say anything. "Thank you." He just looked at little annoyed at her and the others smirked as he still handed her the weird fruit and she put it in her bag.

Finally they came to Optimus's room and the others had even managed to drag Dinobot along. She knocked and had a huge smile on her face when she said, "Trick-r-Treat!" The Maximal leader smiled in return and gave her food. "Thanks guys."

"It was the least we could do Eri," Optimus said.

"Especially after you helped save us from the eight-eyes," Rattrap stated.

"And it was pretty fun," Cheetor added.

Eri looked at all of the Maximals, at all of her friends. She knew they were doing this to make her happy. Just like she'd tried doing for them earlier. Her heart melted. _No doubt this is the weirdest Halloween I've ever had, but it's also been the best. _"Happy Halloween everyone!" she cheered.

"Happy Halloween, Eri!" they replied.

* * *

_Happy Halloween my friends!_


	7. Touchdown!

"Thanksgiving?" they all looked at her still confused. She'd explained the holiday but it didn't seem to help much, a lot like Halloween actually. "Basically, it's a time when family and friends get together and enjoy a nice dinner. At my home everyone always went around the table and said something they were thankful for. I know a lot of people sometimes look at the downside of the holiday but I try to look on the bright side."

"Not suprisen' there, Stargirl," Rattrap said.

"You're the most positive person we know," Cheetor smiled.

"Thanks, so what do you guys think? Want to try it?" It was clear she wasn't trying to pressure them into it. But she was horrible at hiding her excitement.

"Why not?" Rhinox replied.

"This could be interesting," Optimus concurred.

"I'm in," the cat said.

"You beat there kiddo," the rat stated patting her shoulder. They all glanced over to the raptor expectantly. He'd purposefully been messing with the control panel the entire time Eri had explained the holiday. He knew they were looking to see if he'd join them. Normally he would've declined immediately. But…

"Dinobot?" Eri looked at him with her sad eyes. He could've sworn they got bigger as she gazed up at him expectantly. He happened to see the other Maximals out of the corner of his optics staring at him. He knew for a fact they would all lay into him if he declined her. Not that he exactly could with her practically gawking at him with all the hope she had. "Will you celebrate Thanksgiving with us? With me?"

How could he say no to that? "I… suppose."

"Yah!" she cheered and actually hugged him. "Oh, sorry."

"So, how do we start?" Cheetor asked.

"Yeah, little lady. What's the first thing on the list?"

"Hm," she had to think a minute. A lot of things she wouldn't be able to do with them. Like watch the parade on television or make a turkey. She wasn't about to go hunt something down or ask one of the guys to do it. Plus she really didn't have the means to cook much. However, this wasn't about to deter Eri. In fact, she took it as a challenge. She'd just have to get creative. "First, we decorate. I'll go get my things."

* * *

Much like Halloween Eri had to make the decorations out of paper and material she had available. So she tried to go all out as she could. She made turkeys, regular pumpkins, mini-footballs, some of the balloons she remembered being in the parade, bowls of food like mashed potatoes, and fall leaves. Although they did go out at one point and collect the real things. Along with some pine cones. She was glad for the distraction because it also gave her time to think what they could do next. "Ok… Now we go play football!"

They all looked at her weird. "What's football?" the rat asked.

She literally face-palmed. "Of course you guys don't know what football is… I guess I'll just have to teach you." They went outside and used rocks as goalposts. Eri took some pinecones and wrapped them together to make a fake football. She didn't know all of the ins and outs of the game but enough to give them a few basics. "Now, all we need is teams."

"Ok," Primal took charge. "I'll divide the teams. Rhinox, you and Rattrap are with me. Cheetor, Dinobot, and Eri will be the second team."

"M-me?" she questioned.

"Yeah, Stargirl," Rattrap said. "I thought you played before."

"Not really. I've only watched I was never allowed to actually play."

"Why not?" Cheetor inquired.

"Cause I'm a girl."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Oh," she hadn't thought about it. Over the months she'd lived with the Maximals she'd learned a good amount about their culture. One thing was that there were femmes and mechs, a lot like how humans had females and males. But for them being a mech or a femme didn't mean a lot. Bots were known to change what they were all the time. And even if someone was born a femme it was rare. For every femme born there were over a million mechs born. "Well, where I'm from girls aren't allowed to play football. It's more of a male dominated sport. Though I have heard of female teams starting up."

"Well that's stupid," Cheetor commented. "You know as much as any mech would know and you're just as tough."

"Cheetor," Primal said. "It might not seem fair but we can't disregard Eri's culture."

"It's alright Optimus. I'm not offended. It always seemed pretty stupid to me too. But it doesn't matter because now I'll get my chance." They lined up, which ended up in pretty thin lines considering they only had three players. "Sorry if I stink," she told her teammates.

"It's alright Eri," Cheetor reassured her. "It's your first time."

"If I must play this infernal sport then would the two of you concentrate?" Dinobot snarled at them.

Optimus and the others 'hiked' first. Well, they didn't do it in the traditional manner so much as whoever had the ball said the traditional phrase and threw it to another teammate. So Optimus threw it to Rhinox. Who Dinobot tried to stop, only to have the rhino toss it to the rat. Optimus managed to stop the cat and that left Eri to get him. Truth be told they'd felt a little nervous about playing tackle instead of 'touch' football as Eri called it. But she'd insisted she wanted to do this right and she could handle it. And they weren't going to insult her by going easy on her. After all, as she put it, if she could handle the Predacons she could handle her own friends.

So the rat ran right for her. Eri didn't back down but let him come at her. At the last second she ducked down and let him trip over her. He landed flat on the ground and stared dumbly up at the air. Everyone else couldn't believe it and Eri took the chance. "Sorry," she smiled and snatched the ball from him. Everyone else was too busy from their own opponents to take her out and she ran across the last line they'd made in the dirt. "Touchdown!" she cheered and spiked the ball.

"Nice move there, Stargirl," Rattrap regained himself. "But you won't get me twice."

"We'll see," she laughed.

They played for about an hour. Both teams decided the first to ten points would be the winner. Eri's team had Cheetor's speed and Dinobot's strength. Plus, she was hardly easy to catch, the Preds had given her enough practice at evasion. But Optimus's team had Rhinox's strength and of course their leader could fly. Though for the sake of being fair he only used the ability twice. Once was to avoid being plowed into by Dinobot. And Rattrap used his beast modes stealth to actually sneak past most of them.

So there they were, tied and Eri's team had the ball. "Ok guys," she said as they huddled. "What's the plan? We can't go right again they'd see it coming."

"I say we charge ahead," Cheetor put out. "I hand Dinobot the ball and he breaks through."

"That didn't work the last time we tried it fur-ball," Dinobot pointed out.

"Hea, Chopperface we gonna play ball or are you havin' a tea party?" they heard Rattrap call.

"Stifle it vermin!" the raptor retorted. "I will not lose to that infernal mouse. Here is what we will do…"

"Hut," Cheetor looked to his teammates. "Hut, hike!" he threw it to Dinobot. But right as the Maximal's came barreling toward him. The others scrambled to catch the cat and Optimus actually managed to tackle him.

"Sorry Cheetor," he apologized.

"No need, Big-bot," the cat revealed he no longer had the ball.

The rat hadn't been fooled and saw the cheetah hand the ball off to Eri behind his back. Currently, he was in pursuit and gaining on her fast. "Oh shiz!" she could hear the rat closing in on her. "Dinobot help!" she called for the raptor to save her.

Dinobot saw Rattrap closing in on her. Luckily the cat had the other two out of the way. So Dinobot charged. But from his angle of position the rat would be able to tackle her before he could grab the rat. So, instead he picked Eri up with one arm and threw her over his shoulder. "Huh?" he ignored her and everyone else's confusion as he headed for the goal. Rattrap couldn't stop him even hanging onto the back of him. He eventually had to let go or be dragged. Sure enough the raptor carried her over the line and they scored. "Yeah!" Cheetor cheered from the sidelines.

"We win!" Eri smiled and Dinobot just noticed the position they were in. However, he let his own excitement override everything else momentarily.

"How's defeat feel vermin?" he taunted chuckling.

"Yay!" Eri still smiled. She and Dinobot maneuvered her enough so it was more like she was sitting in his arms than thrown over his shoulder. "You guys rock!" she told her teammates. "You too," she told the others. They smiled at her and nodded. None of them were sore losers. Rattrap would've cracked a jock but held his glossa in favor of seeing Eri smile and laugh. She looked like she could jump up and fly at any moment. None of them wanted to ruin it.

* * *

_There should only be one more chapter to this for Eri's Thanksgiving special. Happy Holidays everyone and stay safe!_


	8. Giving Thanks

Everyone was having a good time when Eri saw her chance. She managed to go back inside saying she had to use the restroom. Once she was inside she hurried because she knew she didn't have much time.

Of course the Maximals figured something was up eventually when she didn't come back and went to investigate. When they came back up on the elevator they were surprised at what they saw. Eri stood smiling next to the control panel. Which was now covered in energon. On one side they also noticed she'd put some of the various food they had stored for her.

"Eri," Optimus stared. "How did you?"

"Sorry, Optimus but let's just say this is one of life's little secrets."

"Wow, Eri," Cheetor said. "So, can we just dig in?"

"Um," she hesitated.

"Spots," Rattrap stated as they congregated around the table and sat down. "Mind your manners. Isn't there another tradition you do first, Stargirl?"

She smiled at him as a form of thanks. "Well, if you guys want we can all go around and say something we're thankful for."

"I'll go first!" the cat volunteered. "I'm thankful for Eri and how she got all of this energon for us."

"I concur," Rhinox said, "I'm thankful we have such a considerate friend."

"I'm thankful for all of the time you've put into this Eri," Optimus offered. "And for sharing your traditions with us."

"I'm thankful you were the one who won today, little lady," the rat added. "Even if it meant Dinobutt nearly trampled me. At least you didn't gloat."

Everyone looked expectantly at the raptor. The looks the Maximals gave him promised horrible repercussions if he didn't say something at least a little nice. Eri simply smiled at him and patiently waited. "I'm… Appreciative for having been given the chance to humiliate the rodent," he smirked at Rattrap. "And it would not have been a possibility if it hadn't been for this holiday. So, I must say all of this is thanks to you," he looked at Eri.

Now, it was Eri's turn. She had to keep from crying at all the nice things they'd said. In all her years no one had ever said anything remotely related to her when they went around the table. This time it was practically all about her. "I…" she started standing up to take her turn like the others had done. "I-I…"

"Take your time, Eri," Optimus reassured her.

"I-I'm thankful f-for that sp…sphere," everyone looked confused so she elaborated. "What I me-mean is that it was what brought m-me here. If it hadn't been for it I wouldn't have met any of you or gotten this chance. I-I wouldn't have such great friends." They could see she was barely holding back tears and she couldn't look at any of them.

"To Thanksgiving!" Cheetor cheered as she sat back down.

"And to Stargirl!" Rattrap added picking up a cub of energon.

"To Eri!" the rest of them added in their own cubs and clinked them together.

"Happy Thanksgiving everyone," Eri smiled and they all dug in.

* * *

Later.

Everyone was basically out around the control panel. They'd all gorged on the energon and ended up recounting stories. Eri smiled as they all slept in their own ways. Cheetor laid his head on the panel and drooled a little. Optimus was propped up on one of his elbows. Rhinox and Rattrap, who sat right next to each other, were somehow keeping each other up by leaning on each other. And Dinobot sat with his servos crossed across his chest. One-by-one everyone had drifted off. Leaving Eri awake. She didn't mind.

She got up as quietly as possible and cleaned up everything. Then she brought out special thermal blankets they had and put them on the guys. She doubted they would need them, it was far from cold in the ship. But they needed something due to them sleeping mostly upright in chairs_. Even though they sleep on metal beds_. Eri didn't have the heart to wake them.

_This is the best Thanksgiving ever. _"Goodnight, guys," she whispered putting her own head on the control panel. It might seem weird but she didn't want to leave them and go back to her own room. "You're the best friends a girl could have." The next second she yawned and feel into a content sleep.

* * *

_Sorry this chapter is so short but there you go. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone and be careful with this insane weather!_


	9. Under the Mistletoe

"It's Christmas!" Eri had basically been screaming the past week. Today was what she called "Christmas Eve." None of the Maximals, including their newest member Tigatron, understood or could follow her when she had explained the holiday. They had been nice and listened and she had answered all of their questions and repeated certain things at least fifty times. It didn't help much. So once again Eri settled on focusing on the basics. That this was a time of year where everyone was kinder to one another and put aside their differences for one night of the year.

She also mentioned the idea of giving each other gifts and that it was more fun to give then receive. None of the Maximals really knew what to do with that. They were stranded on an alien planet, not Cybertron, and had limited resources. Plus, what would they get a human girl? But Eri had just smiled and said their company was all the gift she really needed. But the Maximals weren't going to take that lying down. They decided to celebrate the holiday every other way they could. The first step was getting a tree so they could decorate it.

All of them decided to do this and it was the perfect opportunity for Dinobot and Eri to meet their newest member. Dinobot really didn't say much but Tigatron seemed to take a real shine to Eri. Somehow that honestly didn't surprise them. Before they knew it she was riding on his back as they waited for her to pick out the perfect tree. It was cold out but that didn't bother Eri much. She wore her regular clothes overtop the ones she'd gotten from the pyramid.

"That's the one!" Eri pointed to a decent sized pine tree. It was, in her mind, the perfect example of a Christmas tree. Almost twice her size and plenty full enough for the paper decorations she made. Once they got it she managed to pick up some holy. All of the boys kept a lookout for Predacons but for once they were left in peace.

When they got back Eri had to talk the tiger into going into the ship. He didn't care for being indoors. "I know it's different but it's only for one day," she coaxed. "Besides, now you get to meet Mr. Squeakers."

"Who is Mr. Squeakers?" he asked.

"I still can't believe you named my little brother that," Rattrap sighed as he kept the tree from falling on him.

Said rat seemed to come out of nowhere and crawled up until he sat on Eri's shoulder. Even he seemed to be in the holiday spirit because he still wore the little paper Santa hat she had made for him. "Look," she scratched under his chin. "He came to meet you."

The rat didn't seem bothered by the large white tiger in the ship. Maybe it was because he was used to Cheetor running around in his cat form or perhaps he was smart enough to know the metal cat wasn't going to do him any harm. "It is a pleasure to meet you, little friend," Tigatron smiled at him.

The rat nodded in return and seemed to lose interest because he hoped off of her and headed back down the hall toward Eri's room. He often hung out in the ship's depths or her room. He didn't bother anyone or thing though so no one could complain. More often though Eri would come back to her room and find him sleeping in her backpack or makeshift bed she'd made him out of the blanket things they had. Or he'd be eating out of his food bowl. He'd gotten quite the little tummy since he'd joined the Maximals.

Once they placed the tree in a corner they began decorating it with the paper ornaments she'd made and strings of extra lights. "I'm afraid I still do not understand the meaning of these traditions," Tigatron helped out by putting the holy up.

"Most people don't remember what these traditions stand for," Eri explained fixing some of the lights. "It's just that they're traditions and they usually make people feel good. Picking out a tree, putting up lights, baking cookies, all of that. Even if you're not home it reminds you of it and all the people you care for. I used to like going down the street and looking at all the nice Christmas displays in the stores. Some of them were a bit much and were more commercial based then anything. But some… Well some reminded me of what the season's all about."

The way she seemed to stare off for a moment and let the issue drop tipped the Maximals off there was something she wasn't telling them. But they let it slide. Then everything was set up and they all stood there taking it in. They didn't really get it but they didn't have to in order to appreciate the thought behind their work. That was when Eri happened to look up and see what she and Rattrap were under.

"Oh, hea Rattrap we're under the Mistletoe," she pointed up. "You know what this means?"

"Not really Stargirl," the rat shrugged. She may have mentioned it but they couldn't remember everything about this strange day.

"This," she answered by pulling on his arm so he would lean over a bit. Then she stood on the tips of her toes and quickly gave him a kiss on his metal cheek. For a moment all of them just stood there staring at her.

"What was that for little lady?" the rat asked rubbing his cheek. Everyone could have sworn his faceplates turned a light tint of red.

"It's another tradition. Anyone caught under the Mistletoe have to kiss. Well, you don't have to "kiss kiss." That's why I just gave you a quick one on the cheek. Because we're friends. That's what friends and family do. People only really make out if they like each other a certain way." The rest of the evening involved the young cat trying to get caught with a certain femme under the holy. Although the mechs all avoided each other like the plague seeing as even if they were caught they would have to do that too. And that would have been really awkward.

Luckily, nothing like that happened. Mostly, they ate, Eri told them some of her favorite Christmas stories, and they even attempted to sing some of the songs. Although everyone except for Eri basically butchered the heck out of them. Eri still gave them an A for effort. At one point Rattrap managed to get Eri under the holy for the cat. He whispered, "Merry Christmas ya fur-ball."

Cheetor patted her shoulder and pointed upward. When she noticed what he was pointing at she smiled at him. They both moved at the same time and for someone so confident the cat chickened out at the last second. Well, he was so nervous he missed his target. He leaned down too far so Eri ended up kissing his forehead instead of where he meant. Eri being none-the-wiser simply giggled and patted him on the shoulder before moving on.

Things eventually wound down and they all headed off to their berths. Tigatron agreed to stay until the next day. This delighted Eri and she seemed very happy about the next morning even though she understood she wouldn't be getting anything. The Maximals knew she was optimistic but she almost beamed with joy and enthusiasm. They even saw her skipping off to her room that night.

* * *

Once she was in the room she grabbed the items stuffed in a blanket under her bed and got prepared for what was about to happen next. Mr. Squeakers woke up and jumped onto her shoulder as she made sure she was bundled up and her backpack was secure on her back. "You ready Mr. Squeakers?" she asked him making her way out of her room. She stopped and listened and only moved when she made sure no one was still up. It seemed to take forever but she got out of the ship and headed for the enemy base. "Ho ho ho," she said lightly practically jogging so she'd be able to get to the Predacon ship and back before morning. The rat made a little squeak of encouragement as they got further and further away from safety and basically ran into the most dangerous place on the planet.

* * *

_Hello my friends and Merry Christmas! I know this is only one chapter for this holiday but I'll try to have the rest up as soon as possible. I can't make any promises though because it is the holidays. Celebrating and all. Until then I hope you guys enjoy this as part of my Christmas present to you all. _


	10. Not So Silent Night

Now most people would consider Eri out of her mind as she stealthily followed Mr. Squeakers into the Predacon base. He led the way because he knew the safest ways to get around the ship undetected. She didn't want to get lost again and be discovered. That would have ruined her entire Christmas plan. "Lead on Mr. Squeakers," she told him as they crawled through the air ducks. Soon enough she found herself outside the first Pred's room.

She silently jumped out of the duct and placed the first present outside the room. She didn't have wrapping paper but made due with paper out of her notebooks which she colored. Then she used it to make cards with all of their names on the presents. The first was to the wasp it read: To Waspinator from Santa. The others read much the same way.

Eri made sure it was placed so the Predacon wouldn't miss it when he stepped outside. She continued throughout the ship led by her fearless and faithful rat as she delivered the rest of the gifts. She didn't have much to work with but she tried to get them all something that matched their personalities. Waspinator got his bear back, Eri and Mr. Squeakers had kind of borrowed it the previous week. It had taken some creativity on her part but she had fixed him up a little bit. She'd mended some tears and his ears had almost been coming off.

Scorponok got a new and better picture of Megatron. Eri blocked out how she had acquired it from her mind. The spider got her health book. There was no way he was getting her chemistry book but if anyone would appreciate human anatomy it was going to be him. Megatron himself had gotten some wax for his little duck friend. Talking to Dinobot had its benefits. Blackarachnia, she had been tricky because Eri had never actually met her. All she knew was what she looked like, her name, and that she was a femme. So Eri stuck with her instincts and got her some oils she could use for a nice soak. Rattrap seemed to like them enough. And that left Terrorsaur. She used her knowledge of the flyer to get the best gift she could think of. She got him some of the extra lights the Maximals had lying around the ship.

Once she was done she bolted out of there with her little friend as fast as she could. Then she practically ran all the way back to the Maximal base. "I am so out of shape," she gasped sneaking back into the ship. She made a few rounds to make sure no one was up yet. They weren't. Perfect.

She tiptoed her way to where the tree was. Then she placed her own friend's gifts under the tree. They weren't too much different from what the Predacons had gotten. Only she knew them better. Cheetor got a new laser pointer Eri found shoved in the depths of her backpack. No doubt he would have hours of entertainment with that. Rhinox got the screwdriver thing Eri had snagged from the Pred's ship when she first arrived. She knew he'd put it to good use. Optimus Eri gave a library book she had concerning plants, originally she was going to use it to write a paper with but who cared now? Tigatron Eri gave another book but it wasn't the present, what was the gift was the various pressed flowers and needles and things she'd collected shoved in it. Rattrap she made a new computer game, with Rhinox's help and she hadn't explained what it was for. She hoped he like it. When in doubt she could just transfer him all the cyber chips she had on the cyberpoker game. This left the raptor himself. Eri silently thanked whatever deity was out there. As stated before talking with him had certain benefits, including finding out what he enjoyed. Luckily she had been reading Shakespeare in her literature class. _Yeah! I hope they like their gifts_.

Eri had labeled them the same as the she had at the Predacon ship. Though she figured they would guess who it actually was. She yawned as she made her way back to her room. If she was lucky she'd be able to get a couple hours of sleep before the boys got up. _Everyone deserves a gift on Christmas_._ Even jerks like the Predacons._ _But not all of them are slaggers._ She lay down on her bed and the rat went to his own. She smiled a little remembering she'd snuck a tiny gift for him as well back in the control room. It only consisted of food but she knew he'd like it just the same.

"Goodnight, everyone," she sighed and snuggled into her bed. "And Merry Christmas."

* * *

In the Predacon base.

Waspinator just couldn't recharge as well as normal since his bear had gone missing. So he often wandered around the ship late at night in the hopes of finding his stuffed friend. That was when he saw something rather unusual. Female fleshy-bot was in the ship. At first he thought about alerting everyone else but then he saw her leave something in front of his room.

He hoped it wasn't a bomb or something as he went to investigate it. But to his surprise he found a real gift waiting for him. He ripped it open without much thought and found his bear. "Bear-bot!" he cheered hugging it to him. After a second he noticed that his pal was not only back but looking better than ever. "Why would fleshy-femme give Waspinator a gift?" he asked. He also wondered why the card on the gift said from Santa. He had no clue who this Santa was supposed to be but he followed her around as she left gifts for everyone else. She didn't sabotage anything and left after that.

He couldn't believe it. And neither could anyone else after he waited an hour before waking them up. After all he couldn't let them catch the femme after she had been so nice to all of them. But they didn't need to know that.

"Why would the human leave us gifts?" Tarantulas asked not taking his optics out of the book she'd given him.

"It must be some sort of trick," Megatron polished his duck.

"I don't think so," Blackarachnia examined her own present. "She has no motive and nothing to gain from this. If she was stupid enough to think we would lighten up because she bribed us then she would have put her own designation on the cards."

"I agree," Terrorsaur held up his new lights.

"Then fleshy femme was just being nice?" Waspinator asked.

"I don't believe it," Scorponok didn't take his optics off his new picture.

"The proof's right in front of you fool," the she-spider stated.

"Wait," Tarantulas actually closed the book for a moment. "Back on Cybertron I happened to study a few things on the human species. One article mentioned a holiday they celebrated that seems to explain all of this."

"Well?" Megatron said. "What is it?"

* * *

At the Maximal base.

Rattrap yawned and tried to swat away whatever was pestering him but it didn't seem to go away. Then something bit a wire and he jolted up out of his birth. "Yow! What the?" he glanced around and found Mr. Squeakers on his berth. "Squeak what are you doin' here? And what time is it?" It took some prompting but eventually said rat got the Maximal moving and led him to the control room. And there he found the presents addressed to everyone… Except a certain human.

"What's going on?" Cheetor asked rubbing his optics.

"Are the Predacons attacking?" even the raptor's optics fought to adjust to being opened. Both rats had made short work of getting everyone else up.

"I brought ya here cause of those," Rattrap pointed to the presents.

"Eri did all of this?" Rhinox asked.

"Looks like she'd been busy," Optimus was impressed.

"Ya, but if ya noticed none of those are addressed to her. The little lady didn't bother gettin' or makin' herself anything," the rat pointed out. Mr. Squeakers sat on his shoulder and nodded in agreement. None of the Maximals felt right about that. She had gone through all the trouble explaining this holiday and attempting to celebrate it with them. Now she had even gotten or made them all something. But she wasn't going to get anything Christmas morning besides simple thanks from them. That wasn't going to cut it. "I say we give Stargirl a Christmas she won't forget."

* * *

_Hello everyone and Happy New Year! Sorry this is late getting out. I would've posted the first chapter of Christmas on Christmas day but the cite was down. Hope you like this. _


	11. Merry Christmas to All

Eri shifted on her bed and yawned as she got up and stretched. She was a little surprised no one had gotten her up but didn't think too much of it as she went out to get some food. Maybe that would help her wake up since she didn't have any caffeine. To do that she had to go through the control room. But she stopped when all of the Maximals and Mr. Squeakers were there waiting for her.

"Good morning, Eri," Optimus said.

"Merry Christmas!" Cheetor added.

"We were wonderin' when you were gonna get up there kiddo," Rattrap stated with a smile.

"What's going on?" she asked as Mr. Squeakers climbed up onto her shoulder.

"We were waiting for you," Rhinox started.

"So we could celebrate this properly," the cat finished.

"It be rude to start openin' gifts without the whole family right?" the rat inquired.

For a second Eri couldn't respond but then a gentle smile spread across her face and she replied, "Yes." So with that the Maximals and ex-Predacon opened their gifts and thanked her for them. She was just glad they liked them. She opened Mr. Squeakers for him and he let out little sounds of joy before running back and forth across her shoulders happily. Then to her surprise there was still one present left under the tree. It wasn't wrapped the same way the others had been. Instead this one had a sort of mesh looking material on it much like what their metallic blankets were made out of. "What's that?" she inquired.

"Why don't you look and find out?" Tigatron offered.

Eri bent down and slowly looked the gift over. Then she saw her name was painted on it with grey paint. "For me?" she glanced at the others.

"Go on," Cheetor urged.

She took a couple of seconds but managed to get it open. What had been wrapped nearly blew her mind. "Wow," she gasped taking it in. In front of her was a miniature globe model of Cybertron, what other planet was made out of metal? It also had its moons around it. It looked like various pieces of metal had been welded together to make a perfect replica in her opinion. The planet and its companions were multicolored and nearly sparkled in a certain light. "It's beautiful," she managed to get out while not crying.

"I guess that means you like it little lady?" Rattrap asked.

"I love it," she smiled at them and hugged them all one by one. Even the reluctant Dinobot. "This is the best Christmas ever!"

* * *

Little did she know it wasn't quite over because about three hours later their scanners picked up something outside the base. No one knew what it could be due to the fact it was wrapped strangely like how the Maximals had wrapped Eri's present. "It could be a trap," Dinobot had pointed out. Plus there was no way in their minds the Predacons could have found out about Eri's Christmas traditions.

Said human kept quiet about her midnight trip and that she might have been spotted inside the Predacon base. No need to worry the Maximals even more. They sent Rattrap out since he was the demolitions expert and if it was a trap he would be most likely the best to disarm it. Although Optimus did accompany him for moral reasons. But it wasn't a trap. What they found once they unwrapped the thing wasn't something any of them could have predicted.

Eri was so excited, seeing as Rattrap said it was addressed to her by "Santa." She practically bolted out of the ship to get a better look at it. In her eyes it was almost as glorious as the present her friends had made her. There was one large purple crystal, none of them in the gift were energon but other naturally occurring stones. It was in the center or the piece and around it were numerous other crystals of every color imaginable suspended by wires. All Eri had to do was put the big crystal in the sun and the light immediately spread out to the smaller ones. When that happened the light seemed to pour right through them and hit the area around them. Making rainbow colors spread everywhere. It was almost like looking in a giant kaleidoscope because the entire thing was on a pendulum like device that could spin around.

"This is so awesome," Eri gushed spinning the colors around as her friends stood their dumbfounded. She didn't say anything but she though she saw a glimpse of red and green behind a nearby rock. "Thank you Santa!" she yelled out.

* * *

Hours later.

Eventually the day wound down and Tigatron headed back up to the northern sectors where he would keep guard against the Predacons. They all wished him good luck and Eri had given him another hug before leaving. It was decided he would keep his present on the ship; it would be safer that way and would give him an excuse to come and visit more often.

Everyone had enjoyed their gifts and Eri had placed both of hers in her room. But she hung out with her friends the rest of the day and ate her own meal as they congregated around the control panel and enjoyed their energon. She liked listening to their stories and asking them questions. It reminded her how much they had done for her not only that day but since she had shown up and every day since._ I have good friends. No… I have a great family. _

"So did you have fun today Stargirl?" Rattrap asked after a lull in the conversation. He didn't get an answer and everyone looked over to see she had actually nodded off leaning up against Dinobot. He hadn't though much when she'd leaned on him but now he looked down at her a bit surprised. "Awww the little lady's had a long day."

"At least she seemed to enjoy herself," Rhinox stated as they all glanced at their sleeping comrade.

"I'm just glad we could make her happy," the cat grinned.

"We all are," Optimus smiled at her sleeping form. "We should put her in her berth," he made a move like he was going to do it when the raptor stopped him.

"I will do it," he said moving slowly so he could grab her and lift her up as he stood. She didn't even move and only yawned. "I will be the least likely to wake her." No one wanted to argue but let him carry her off to her room. True to his word he made it there and she hadn't made a peep.

He opened her door and managed to place her in the birth. It was then the rat decided to make his appearance and went to his own bed on the other side of the room. He made a few squeaks before Dinobot gave him a death glare and lowly snarled. The rat got the hint and just laid down in his numerous blankets.

The raptor happened to notice the gifts she had gotten. The one with the crystals sat on the other side of the room near the rat. It was probably one of the best places to catch the light. Meanwhile, the one they had fashioned her was right near her head on a small metal shelf. It slowly spun around as the moons circled the miniature planet.

The warrior gave it one last glance before he headed for the door. But he was stopped by a small voice behind him. "Dinobot?"

He let out a low growl directed in the rat's direction but only glanced back at her over his shoulder. She had shifted so her legs were over the side of the bed but she still rubbed her eyes. "Go back into recharge," he told her.

"I will but can you wait a second?"

"What?" he turned to face her as he reached the door.

"I wanted to say thank you for celebrating Christmas with me and the others. I know you really don't like human holidays and you didn't even grumble once."

"I did not understand one aspect of this day but it was tolerable," he replied.

"Well, thank you again. And tell the others for me I said thanks for my amazing gift. You're the best."

"Very well," he agreed. "Just go back to sleep."

His back was turned when she said one more thing. "And Dinobot? You guys are the best family a girl could have. Goodnight," she finished and he heard her shift and wrap the blankets around her as she went back to sleep.

The door closed and the raptor stood there for a moment processing what she had said. They had gone from being her friends and comrades to her family? When exactly had that happened? At first she had been nothing but trouble for them. A nearly useless being they had to constantly be saved. But that hadn't been the case for long. She'd proven herself more than once. The little human proved to be just as intelligent as she was brave and caring. Eri was constantly putting everyone else aboard the ship above her own wants and needs. He guessed half the reason she even celebrated these holidays was so that they would enjoy it; not necessarily because she wanted to and that it involved her traditions.

He had to admit he was going to read the book she had given him. If he had been with the Predacons the concept of giving one another gifts and calling each other family would have been out of the question. But he wasn't; he was a Maximal now. And so was Eri; unofficially speaking. All of those in the ship were willing to do nearly anything for one another, even offline if they had to. Eri included. He knew if he had to he would offline protecting her. Give his very spark for her. And although she didn't have a spark she did have a heart or soul as she tried to explain to them more than once. Whatever she had the raptor knew she would gladly give it up for him as well. No one had ever been willing to do that for him since he was young and with his carrier and sire.

So were the Maximals and little human his family now? He didn't really have a better definition for them, even that infernal vermin that irritated him to no end. But what else would he call them when they were all so bonded? If not in the tradition sense than in this makeshift side of the war. Perhaps they were the closest thing to a family a warrior and Predacon deserter like him could get. He could do far worse, especially with such a carrying person like Eri. Even if she was a human.

Without the robotic raptor even realizing it a small smile came to his faceplates. "Sleep well, Eri," he said softly as he headed down the corridor. He silently made a promise to himself. He swore that no matter what happened, even if the worst occurred Dinobot would stand by the girl's side. Even if he only had his spark left he would use it to guard her against their enemies. Because he somehow knew in the depths of his being she would always stand by his side and do the same for him. What more could he ask for?

* * *

_Hope you guys liked this. I decided to focus on Dinobot because he seemed to be pretty quiet and I wanted to explore what he might be thinking about all of this. Until next time! But I have to warn you I might not get the New Year's chapters up for a bit. I have to give my other stories some attention too. _


End file.
